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t’s time to wrap up May with our second Whatcha Reading! It’s also Memorial Day weekend in the States, which seems like a perfect excuse to get even more reading done before the month is over.
Sneezy: I’m reading Right Wing Women by Andrea Dworkin. She takes no prisoners.
Sarah: What’s that? The library has the next Veronica Speedwell audiobook? Don’t mind if I do!
Currently listening to A Murderous Relation ( A | BN | K | AB ) and having a splendid time. The audiobook performance by Angele Masters is terrific.
Shana: I just finished a YA romcom that gave me the biggest book hangover, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert. So much banter and sweetness! I’m now reading The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older, and liking it so far.
Elyse: I just finished The Daydreams. ( A | BN | K ) Some of it was how awful tabloids were to young female stars in the aughts (Lindsay, Britney etc), but each of the main characters does something really shitty to another so it’s hard to really like any of leads. It was meh.
Lara: Elyse recommended Loreth Anne White’s The Maid’s Diary ( A | BN ) and I’m hooked. No romance, but the suspense is phenomenal so far.
Whatcha reading? Let us know in the comments!
Currently reading Ilona Andrews BURN FOR ME. Great stuff, really enjoying it!
Also recently read THE COMEBACK by Lily Chu. Oh, this book! Love at first chapter. Lily Chu really knows how to write celebrity romances. Absolutely wonderful. I’m gonna have to read it again soon.
I dug even deeper into my Amanda Quick nostalgia feelings and read DESIRE I know I read this when it was a brand new book in the 90s and I remember that it involved a woman who made perfume and an island off the coast of England that had a bit of special vibe, but I had no other memory of it at all. It was also a medieval, which JAK/AQ stopped writing a long time ago. I miss medievals. I read the whole thing waiting for something to jog my memory but it never came. Just a pleasant, consistent reading experience. For me that’s probably honestly better, b/c I’m not a big rereader. I went in with low expectations and was surprised by how much I liked it It didn’t feel *super* dated and the light mystery worked fine. An Amanda Quick reread glom may be coming on.
In a completely different vein, I read THE MIDNIGHT BRIDE, the second book in The Dead Lands series, by Kati Wilde. Thank you to DiscoDollyDeb for turning me onto these books. They are over the top in the best way possible. Like Conan the Barbarian or (showing my generation here) He Man with strong female characters and over the top sexy times. They are just fast, fun novellas that I can read in about one setting. I’m holding off on reading the next one as a palate cleanser.
I’m almost done with THE OUTLAWS SCARLETT AND BROWNE by Jonathan Stroud, which took a while to get going, but I’m engrossed now. Vaguely post apocalyptic England with two teenagers? Young adults? on the run. The heroine is a scrappy resourceful bank thief and the hero is a boy with a mysterious past. Things are definitely violent and scary towards the end here, so I’d vote more YA than middle grade. But it doesn’t have a love triangle (shocking!) or even any overt romance, so it just feels different than a lot of contemporary YA. As someone who doesn’t read a lot of fantasy, I wish a little bit more of the details of the world were spelled out. There’s The Tainted (zombies that we’re not allowed to call zombies, of course) that roam in the countryside and there’s the fortified towns that are very religious and zealous about keeping anyone with “a deformity.” I can connect A to B, but I’d like a little bit more details of how they got to this point, how long this has been the norm, etc. This was all thanks to the Mother Son Book Club which now has extended not only to “Mom, you need to read this, it’s really good.” To “Mom, you need to read this and tell me if it’s any good.” 😉 I’m not sure if it will hold his attention long enough b/c he’s been more about graphic novels and shorter books lately, but at least I got something out of it.
@Jill Q: You’re welcome! Kati Wilde is one of my all-time favorite writers. If you’re in the mood for something angstier, I recommend her GOING NOWHERE FAST or (as we get closer to Christmas) any of the books in her Christmas trilogy. I also love her Hellfire Riders Motorcycle Club romances (fun fact: I’m mentioned on the dedication page of the final book LOSING IT ALL–the apex of my romance-reading life), but they are a little more violent. Kati has been experiencing some personal issues over the past few years, but recently she’s been writing and publishing again. I always look forward to new books from her.
I have to thank @flchen1 for suggesting I try Ari Baran’s very good GAME MISCONDUCT (her debut book and the first in her Penalty Box series), because I think this newly released m/m hockey romance would have flown under my radar without that recommendation. GAME MISCONDUCT reads like a rougher, grittier version of HEATED RIVALRY (antagonists on the ice, lovers in secret), along with elements of THROWN OFF THE ICE (the veteran/rookie dynamic), SEASON’S CHANGE (fear of being outed), and UNWRITTEN RULES/DIAMOND RING (mental health challenges), but with a tone all its own. Mike is a scrappy young player, somewhat on the smaller side, known for his belligerent playing style; he gets into lots of fights on the ice. One player he frequently fights is the much older and bigger Danny. Then one evening, Mike (gay and closeted) and Danny (bi and less worried about being outed) have a sexual encounter (I should caution that the sex in this book is initially quite harsh and often violent—something both men crave—and physical tenderness only enters their relationship later). Occasional sex, coupled with regular texts and phone calls, don’t stop the men from fighting every time their teams play each other. Baran does a great job of showing Mike’s aimless anger and Danny’s self-excusing addictions (alcohol and pain pills). Gradually, as the two men grow closer, each helps the other address their self-destructive habits. I wasn’t surprised to see that Baran thanked both Cait Nary and KD Casey in her acknowledgments because GAME MISCONDUCT clearly comes out of the same “angsty m/m sports romance” subgenre as their books. But GAME MISCONDUCT stands strongly on its own merits—and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Highly recommended.
ONE AND ONLY by Karla Sorensen is a slow-burn romance with a very interesting take on the fake relationship trope. Interior designer Greer is desperate to give her dying father the chance to walk his daughter down the aisle. Professional football player Beckett wants to convince his ex, Josie, that his home life is stable enough for him to have custody of their young daughter while Josie travels to England with her new husband. (As an aside, I liked so much that Josie is shown as a warm and supportive woman who works diligently to co-parent with Beckett. If you’re tired of exes being shrews and harpies, you’ll find Josie a breath of fresh air.) Greer and Beckett think they can help each other by “getting married”—but things get complicated from the start. Lying to their loved ones about their relationship begins to wear on both the passionate, impulsive Greer and the solid, upright Beckett. When the inevitable exposure occurs, an understandably upset Josie upbraids Greer & Beckett: “The moment you break someone’s trust, it doesn’t matter what your intentions were. You just have to deal with the fallout.” And fallout there certainly is. Of course, this is a romance, so there is an HEA, but before then, Greer and Beckett have to come to terms with how they have deceived others (and themselves) into thinking their relationship was “authentic”. A well-written story with an unexpectedly realistic look at the consequences of lying—even with the best of intentions. Recommended.
It’s not often these days that I have recourse to the terms “crazy-sauce” and “magical peen” as I’m reading, but those phrases recurred in my head as I read Amelia Wilde’s dark & well-written but wildly hallucinogenic, HERO WORSHIP. HERO WORSHIP is a “second-generation” book featuring a romance between the adult children of characters from an earlier Wilde series that was (much like Katee Robert’s Dark Olympus series) loosely inspired by Greek Mythology. In HERO WORSHIP, Daisy is the daughter of Hades & Persephone. She has inherited an ocular condition from her father that makes it difficult for her to be in bright light. Daisy is also an artist, but her work is becoming increasingly dark—both in color palette and subject matter—because of her recurring nightmares and seizures. (As she also did in her Collector trilogy, Wilde does an excellent job in describing the process by which an idea is transmitted from mind to canvas.) Hercules, adopted son of Zeus (Daisy’s uncle), is dispatched to help Daisy when she is threatened by unknown villains. Daisy & Hercules have always been attracted to each other but have never acted upon their feelings because of their family relationship (although even this taboo is rather stretched—seeing as the couple aren’t blood relatives and Hercules, having been adopted as a teenager, didn’t grown up in the family with Daisy). What do you know? Having lots of (mostly rough, always consensual) sex with Hercules keeps Daisy’s nightmares & seizures at bay. Did someone say “magical peen”? Yes, I think I did. I don’t want to give the impression that HERO WORSHIP is badly written: in addition to being very good with describing the artistic process, Wilde is also good with making unlikely events such as shared lucid dreaming and visits to the afterlife somewhat plausible. However, you really have to be in the right mood to enjoy a book like HERO WORSHIP—decide to read (or not) accordingly.
More representative of Amelia Wilde’s work is the dark romance FLIGHT RISK, the first book in her new Risk trilogy, connected to her two other series about the Hill family: adult siblings still recovering (physically and psychologically) from the death of their parents in an arson fire when they were young. FLIGHT RISK is the story of Jameson Hill, whose impulsive recklessness has been apparent in previous Hill Family books, and Lily Hayes, granddaughter of the judge Jameson holds responsible the mishandling his parents’ estate. Jameson kidnaps Lily, unaware that she has no desire to attend the prestigious law school to which she just gained admission and is, in fact, not completely upset to be kidnapped (after she realizes Jameson has no murderous intentions). Jameson takes Lily to an isolated cabin where all sorts of mind (and body) games commence (this IS a dark romance, so expect many triggers). After a few days, Jameson and Lily have fallen for each other, and Jameson begins to regret what he has done: “This is the part I hate the most. The inevitable comedown. All the adrenaline is gone. All the righteous fury is gone. I’m left with shame and grief and choking sadness and no idea what to do next. It takes a while for my brain to catch up with all the dumbshit things I do.” The book ends of a cliffhanger, and I’m looking forward to the next book, CLOSE CALL. Recommended for those who like their romance dark with a splash of the unexpected.
Reading Asher Glenn Gray’s HONEYTRAP, 1950’s M/M romance between an American spy and his Soviet counterpart as they work together to “investigate” an attempted political assassination that both governments are covering up. The American MC’s boss basically wants him to be a resort tour guide, making sure the Soviet leaves the US thinking the country is wonderful and lovely and that he never gets the chance to actually spy spy. The Soviet MC’s boss wants him to seduce the American so they can blackmail him later. Both men realize they’ve been given a busywork assignment because their superiors don’t respect them. Both MCs are, if not bisexual by modern standards, then experienced with women and consider men “an option if no women are available,” which feels enough like a realistic excuse for the time period. Both MCs are loyal to their respective countries but are interested in the other’s country (and critical of their own) probably more than their superiors would approve of. Both MCs are pretty likeable and low-key, which isn’t quite what I was looking for with a premise like this, but, I mean, I like them because they’re likeable people. The stakes feel more personal than international–the Soviet MC wants to be promoted and the US MC wants to keep his job, while the odds of anyone hitting the MAD button have pretty much been negated before we even start. I haven’t gotten far enough to rate the spice level yet.
I’ve been reading the Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce. I really enjoyed FIRST TEST and PAGE, the first two books, and now I am on to SQUIRE, book 3. Highly recommended, especially if you like YA fantasy. I need to go back and read Pierce’s Alanna/Song of the Lioness series.
I have PROM HOUSE by Chelsea Mueller on my TBR pile. I also want to check out some new books, like THE BLIGHTED STARS by Megan E. O’Keefe and WITCH KING by Martha Wells.
Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend! 🙂
Someone on here recommended HIS QUIET AGENT by ADA MARIA SOTO. Thank you! I read that, the novella MERLIN IN THE LIBRARY, and the novel AGENTS OF WINTER in a two days. Definitely read this brief series in order, as it follows the same characters (but no cliffhangers, so if you just read the first, you will have a complete story). This story about two quiet, unusual men with difficult pasts was intriguing and tender and never lost my interest or dragged.
@Jennifer Estep – yay for Tamora Pierce. You definitely have to read the Song of the Lioness series, and between the two there is also the Immortals series, all highly recommendable! I believe she wrote further books in th the Tortall universe, but I admit I haven’t kept up and should check. I discovered Alanna in my teens and then kept reading as the next series became available. I adore Alanna and blame her on my “heroine dresses as a man”-catnip!
Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater – the author describes it as “if Good Omens had small personal stakes instead of huge world ending ones.” Sweet, funny and light. A few quibbles with the plot but the characters more than make up for that. There is a romance with a twist, no heat.
The ending gave me the warm fuzzies.
Vampires Drink Tomato Juice by K. M. Shea (book 1 of the Magical Beings Rehabilitation Center) – picked up the box set on sale, it’s also in Kindle unlimited. Light and fluffy YA paranormal adventure with a hint of romance, slightly cartoony vibe but all in all good escapist fun.
Thanks everyone for posting your recs, have a lovely day!
Started with a reread of THE WIDOW OF ROSE HOUSE by Diane Biller as a refresher (as though I need an excuse to reread it. Such a great book) before diving into THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN PARIS. Was it as good as the first book? Yes and no. Amelie is a hard character to like. She has many good qualities, but they are also her failing. There’s a cross between survivor’s guilt and PTSD that guides most of her actions, and you just want to shake her. On the other hand, with a little help from her ghostly “friends”, she is finally able to see that happiness is her right. And yes, it’s a bit one sided in that area as Ben’s happiness has always been her. He has no conflict about this, but it does let her keep breaking his heart.
Then came THE BULLET THAT MISSED, #3 in the Thursday Murder Club series. The gang has to deal with a threat against one of their own while solving the cold case of a murdered reporter. It seems, thanks to the events of book 2, that the gang has a nemesis in the making. I’m a little disappointed that Ibrahim seems to have been taken in, but maybe that will be resolved in the next book….
Big thumbs up for Pippa Grants THE WORST WEDDING DATE. It was a delight, even if it featured a trope that doesn’t generally work for me. I’ve seen the word frolic associated with reviews, and that is pretty apt. It’s listed as a stand alone, but there are at least two support characters that are screaming for their own stories. And, I don’t know about you, but a naked inspirational knitter is something I could use in my life especially due to:
the weird turn my reading took this week. My bff relocated to Ohio to be near her grandbaby last weekend. It’s a seven hour drive, not the otherside of the world, but it is a big change. She’s the ride or die, I’m bored want to meet for ice cream? I have to go look at hotels in Milwaukee are you busy? What are you doing next July because I found this Outlander gathering in North Carolina friend. So, I packed her up last week and sent her on her way. Opened my Kindle two nights later to book two of Jennifer (Jasimine Haynes) Skully’s A Once Again series which features MCs in their 50s (therefore more relatable to me). WISHING IN ROME features a recently divorced FMC who takes a dream trip to Italy after the death and at the behest of her bff. Yes, I wept for pretty much the first three chapters. Then I started Emily Henry’s HAPPY PLACE as my morning read. Six friends having a last vacation at the beach house that’s been their tradition for a decade. There are secrets and undercurrents and the changes that time brings to lives and relationships. The biggest secret being that Wyn and Harriet have broken their engagement. Still, it’s about friends moving apart, and it is hitting that sore spot more than it might have if I’d read it at another time.
Coincidence? Catharis?
BTW I’m enjoying both immensely, if with a box of Kleenex near to hand.
Not much to report today, Smart Bitches. Need to get some reading done this weekend!
ONLY BAD OPTIONS, Jennifer Estep — M/F, solid sci fi romance with well-fleshed out characters. I recommend it. I think this series will become a comfort reread. My only complaint is that the second book is not out yet — this is a slow burn romance and I want to read all the books at once! You may also want to wait, or maybe you like to string along your series. Proceed accordingly. Weirdly, the description mentions historical romance, but there is nothing historical about it. Powers, planetary politics, large inter-galactic corporations — nothing to do with Bridgerton — more paranormal than historical, so ignore that. Who wrote that blurb? @JenniferEstep’s work deserves better pitches!
HITMAN VS. HITMAN Cari Z. and L.A. Witt — M/M action romance. Tired? Want to stop thinking about your job or all the other stuff you’ve put on your mental “To Do” list? Then pick up this little amuse bouche. Not brilliant, not serious, but action packed with two appealing anti-heroes. And there is a whole series if it turns out to be your catnip. Enjoy!
FILTHY RICH Julie Kriss — M/F boss/assistant romance. You’ve read this book before, but this is a good version of it. Power imbalance handled pretty well, MCs are appealing. Exactly what it says on the tin. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
Thanks for all your recommendations! Enjoy the weekend and the spring weather I hope you are having! 🙂
I missed the last WAYR (or the last two…), plus I was away on a work trip to the other side of the world! So I got some long flights to enjoy reading, though the trip itself meant not much time for reading, as was to be expected.
Upon recommendation here, I read C.S. Poe’s MADISON SQUARE MURDERS and SUBWAY SLAYINGS (m/m contemporary, mystery/crime). Loved these – thanks for the recommendation here and now I am very impatient for the next instalment! I love the slow burn element (I am finding that I like a good slow burn more and more!) and the mysteries are satisfying. Also Larkin’s unique voice is interesting, though his backstory is heartbreaking. Doyle is fabulous in how accepting he is of Larkin, but I appreciate his not being just being a happy-go-lucky character but that he has depth and drama in his past too. It’s inevitable that things do come to a bit of a head in the second book and that they do realise that they need to talk about things! As someone else said, Doyle’s not talking to his (ex-)husband is a bit problematic, though the relationship is on the rocks from the beginning.
KJ Charles – THIEF IN THE NIGHT (m/m Regency novella). Finally, this is Toby’s story, the brother who left and gets a mention in The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting. Lovely novella featuring Toby and his unexpected connection with an Earl with a lot of baggage in his past. This has been out as an audio book since last year, but I prefer print, so I waited. There’s also a quick short story featuring Toby’s and Robin’s reunion called A ROSE BY ANY NAME. Currently it’s available for newsletter subscribers but should later also be available on KJ Charles’ website.
And because I love to read murder mysteries on planes, I read a few – no romance here!
STANDING IN THE SHADOWS – Peter Robinson. The last Alan Banks books… I only found out that Robinson died last year. Too bad, I’ve read and enjoyed the whole series. This one too is good, featuring dual timelines and POVs and it takes a while for the two to connect. Als always, it kept me glued to my Kindle! And I admit it is hard to say goodbye to a series that I wholly enjoyed!
THE HUNTING DOGS (JAGDHUNDE) – Jorn Lier Horst, Norwegian murder mystery. Read this in German as it was a street library find, but I see it’s available in English too. Another engrossing mystery that held all my attention. Good story, interesting mystery (well, two actually that intersect) and interesting lead characters – a police inspector and his grown daughter who is a journalist reporting on crime. This author is new to me but I might check out more of his books.
Almost finished: ROOM NO 10 (ZIMMER NR 10) – Ake Edwardson, Swedish murder mystery. Cue another street library find. This one is driving me upt the walls to be honest! It moves at a glacial pace, and while the author’s attention to detail is admirable, for me it’s too slow-moving. I’m just slogging through because I need to know the solution. Also, and I don’t know if that’s maybe an issue with the translation, who knows, at least in German it’s hard to keep track of the changing POVs and timelines, because he writes from so many different characters’ POVs and there are flash-backs involved as well. Not much action happens and I still have no idea where this is going!
I finished “The Fiancee Farce” by Alexandra Bellefleur. It was lovely and cozy and I really enjoyed it. F/F fake relationship + marriage of convenience = they both catch real feelings, because this is romance and that’s how we roll. Gemma’s cousin is an absolute slimeball of a creep.
I have a mountain of library books checked out and need to start whittling away at them, but haven’t decided what to read next.
Reading wise, it’s been a bit of a slog lately, so nothing much to report, but audiobooks are another story. After seeing a recommendation here for the Deanna Raybourn Veronica Speedwell audiobooks, I checked out the first one from my library, and I have proceeded to check out the following three in remarkably quick succession! I love them. The romance is a sloooooow burn but it’s moving along in a lovely way, and I adore the friendship between the main characters. Highly recommend!
I WANT IT THAT WAY, the latest in Karen Grey’s Carolina Classics series, is set in the 1990’s for a healthy dose of nostalgia and features a FMC who is unapologetically child-free. The book starts with her trying to find a doctor who will perform a tubal ligation which is being refused because she’s “only” 29 AND she’s unmarried. According to the patriarchal medical profession, she can’t possibly make that choice on her own, but rather has to prove that she has a husband who gives his permission. A real but fake marriage ensues and of course, she and the MMC catch feelings (this is a romance after all!). I thought the author did a great job of finding a way to illustrate how little body autonomy women have while not having to raise the abortion issue. Plus, it was a very good romance.
TROY STORY by Carla Luna features both a male and female lead who are archeologists, which I loved since I’m a mythology and archeology nerd from way back. Lots of competence p0rn in this one and an enjoyable friends to lovers romance set at a summer dig at the assumed historical site of Troy.
Finally, I loved CAN’T STOP THE FEELING by Janet Elizabeth Henderson who writes both rom coms and lighter romantic suspense set in quirky small towns in Scotland. She does a good job in balancing lighter and more serious elements in her books so they leave you smiling yet also feeling the feels. This book was comedic, a bit bawdy, and yet bittersweet as the MMC was finally moving on from the loss of his beloved wife two years earlier and coming to appreciate the virtues of the housekeeper who’d been keeping both himself and his estate house together while he fell apart in his grief.
Ooh, yay, @JillQ and @DiscoDollyDeb—Kati Wilde is one of my favorites too—I don’t tend to read MC romance, but she’s an exception. I think it was thanks to a previous recommendation by you too, @DDD! Her writing sweeps me away in the very best ways, and I often find myself picking her stuff up for a reread if I’m in a rut.
The second part of this month has included some really good reads and starts and closes to series…
TEAM ORDERS by RJ Scott is a solid introduction to the new multi-author m/m series set in the world of Formula One racing. I enjoyed this story, and then really loved Lisa Henry’s FULL THROTTLE, which is an opposites-attract, wrong but maybe right timing story, which comes out on Tuesday.
The SILVER SOLDIERS anthology curated by Delilah Devlin was a great one—a fun mix of settings and takes on the not-so-new guys finding someone who sparks their interest.
THE SOLDIER’S REFUGE by Sabrina York is the first in her new Tuttle Sisters of Coho Cove, and is a good second-chance, used to be best friends story, set in a little town in the Pacific Northwest. Good mix of loving/nosy siblings and all that.
Sawyer Bennett’s BISHOP is the first in her Arizona Vengeance hockey series, and is a fun fake relationship story. Looking forward to continuing as she gets to the others on the team…
And the absolute best this month has been an ARC of Beth Bolden’s THE STAR, which launches her new Charleston Condors m/m football series. I have loved everything I’ve read by Ms Bolden so far, and this is no exception. While her stories are often emotionally gripping, they are sunshine and summer breezes rather than dark and gritty. Her humor resonates with me and I find myself smiling and cackling gleefully as I read. I’m not much of a sports fan, but I get swept away by her locker room speeches and on-field descriptions, and The Star has those as well as the excitement of building a new team and the threads of on and offfield chemistry as this new team figures each other out. It’s a great brother’s best friend, teammates to lovers story, and I will be rereading it soon! (Many of her series exist in a shared universe, which I happen to love. Her previous m/m football series, the Piranhas, is also stellar, and will give you a sense whether her writing is for you. I actually first found her through her Riptde football trilogy. And her Food Truck Warriors series is both mouthwatering and so wonderfully entertaining!)
Thanks again, SB readers!
Current freelance job is eating up a lot of my time, so not a lot got read this week or last. I finished up THE SINISTER BOOKSELLERS OF BATH by Garth Nix. I enjoyed it very much, but start with the first book if you haven’t yet read it (THE LEFT-HANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON), both because you’ll be lost if you haven’t, and because I thought the first one was a little bit better. Both are historical fantasy, set in early-1980s Britain, and feature a secret, powerful organization of booksellers-cum-magic-wielders whose raison d’etre is keeping the Old World beings (elementals and mythical creatures of various sorts) from killing, harming, or freaking out people in the New World (essentially, Muggles.) YA, and lots of fun, with reasonably diverse characters.
Since then, I’ve read MURDER AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, the fifth Wrexford and Sloane mystery by Andrea Penrose. These are Regency-era mysteries set mostly in London, with sympathetic recurring characters, convoluted plots, and a touch of romance that unfolds over the series arc. Pretty well-written, with a bit of social commentary. I enjoy the mysteries, but at this point, I’m in it as much for the characters as the plots (probably more so)—which says a lot about the characters, because the plots are always interesting.
I listened to HAMMERED, the third book in Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles. I had read the book a decade ago, and my opinion hasn’t changed. As much as I enjoyed the first two books, I feel the author broke the implied promise to the readers by making the tone quite a bit darker in book three. Also, the main character makes some bad choices despite repeated warnings (from several actual deities) not to… which seems less than wise in a character who has lived 2000+ years, presumably by not making bad choices. I reviewed it on my blog, so I won’t repeat everything here.
Needing a warm-cozy-familiar break from both work and fiction with multiple dead bodies, I decided to reread THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES by Sangu Mandanna, which was just as heartwarming and enchanting as when I read it last year.
Currently I’m reading an ARC of GRYPHON IN LIGHT, the newest Valdemar novel by Mercedes Lackey (once again in collaboration with her husband, Larry Dixon.) It’s about Kelvren, the engaging gryphon from the Owl Mage trilogy, and I’m trying very hard to enjoy that aspect and not be bothered by the ways in which the book seems to break the worldbuilding and magic systems of the previous books. Lackey has done this sort of thing before, but this time it’s really irritating me. That aside, she usually tells a good story, so I’ll swallow my reservations and keep reading. (I will warn, though, that I peeked at the last page, and it ends on a… well, I wouldn’t call it a cliffhanger exactly, but it literally ends with the words “To be continued.”)
I will also say that this is an appallingly low book-count for me. Clearly I need to make better choices about how I’m spending my non-working time, even when there’s not a lot of it. I stayed up reading until 3:00 am last night, not because I couldn’t put this particular book down, but because I was so desparate to read.
Busy reading month, but not a lot of romance…first I read THE GOLDEN TICKET by Irena Smith, a former Stanford admissions officer who now works as a private college admissions consultant. I loved the early chapters detailing her journey to the US as a refugee, how literature saved her from drifting in life, and her romance with her husband. The later chapters, involving the college admissions life (for worried kids and parents and university employees alike) and her children’s struggles really bothered me. In the ‘90s I attended one of the in-demand colleges she mentioned, and my experience was totally different than the cutthroat grade-grabbiness and selfish families she describes…if I had read her book I probably wouldn’t have wanted to go if I were applying now, which makes me sad. She’s brutally honest about her struggles as a parent, which probably will reassure other parents but seemed cruel to her kids, especially her autistic son. I realize her kids are in their 20s now and probably gave their blessing, but I would really like to hear what a neurodivergent reader thinks of some of the things she says…to be frank, I don’t see how some of her dark humor and flippant jokes are any different from her autistic son’s behavior that she felt hurt by. I can see how parents would be reassured by this book during their kids’ senior year, and it’s a much better read than Stanford’s snoozy QUESTIONS AND ADMISSIONS, but it really felt invasive and disrespectful at times.
Onward! Jen B. Larson’s HIT GIRLS is a history of women in American punk from 1975 to 1983, focusing on lesser-known regional acts…it’s probably best used as a reference guide due to the format, but I loved the present-day interviews! I got an ARC of Shannon Bowring’s THE ROAD TO DALTON, about intrigue in a small New England town. The prose is lovely, but it’s extremely dark (trigger warnings aplenty for suicide/suicidal ideation, domestic violence, postpartum depression, eating disorders…I could go on) and lacked enough resolution to make up for it. Of course, I delved into the new SASAKI AND MIYANO to cheer myself up…the main story is worryingly short, but it made me squee with a vengeance. (Harusono is hinting at the pair’s first fight in the future…eep!)
Just finished an ARC of Nalini Singh’s RESONANCE SURGE. For the first time, one of our main characters is a low-grade Psy – Theo Marshall is only a 2.7 TK. She goes to Moscow to investigate a formerly hidden rehabilitation center there that has long been owned by her family, where her partner in the investigation is a member of StoneWater. She also discovers it’s not actually the first time she’s visited that center. Those hoping for a glimpse of Arwen and Pavel won’t be disappointed, I think. Another solid entry in the series. (With the pattern that’s repeated twice now, I’m almost expecting “somewhere else” to follow Moscow, and precede California, but we’ll see next year, I guess.)
My first ever LUCY PARKER, BATTLE ROYAL, lived up to its billing. Absolutely loved it. I have found that I really connect with what I call a ‘grown-up’ love story (see: How to Fake it in Hollywood, Funny You Should Ask) and this was just gorgeous; heartfelt, emotional and such a likeable cast of characters. I also live in London, near Notting Hill, so it was easy to imagine the settings. Definitely my favourite for May and I have pre-ordered CODENAME CHARMING which continues in the same universe.
I enjoyed RISE by KARINA BLISS – a rock star story (not a subset I read often). MMC is a wild man in his forties and fronts a major rock band, FMC is an academic in her 30s, hired to write his memoir. It’s a nice, opposites attract slow burn as they find their way to each other. Ends in a good place but there is a sequel, REDEMPTION which focuses on how they make their new life together work but with extra drama in the shape of a stalker. In hindsight, I would have been happy leaving them at the end of the first book but I liked the characters enough to want to explore further. I also read WHAT THE LIBRARIAN DID which is the Rise MMC’s brother’s story. Again, very enjoyable. There are three other books about other band/family members which are sitting on my wishlist, awaiting price drops.
Having read and enjoyed the first book in MEGHAN MARCH’S DIRTY BILLIONAIRE trilogy earlier in the year, I picked up the other two when they were free recently and quickly finished the story. I didn’t feel they were as strong as the first book but they were fairly short, so I didn’t feel the need to DNF. Billionaire and young country singer. Entertaining enough but a bit lightweight and repetitive for me, so I’m probably done with the author for now.
THE WEDDING CRASHER by MIA SOSA is one of those books that I enjoyed while reading it but can’t really recall enough (a week later) to write any sort of critique. It’s a rom-com and there’s fake dating, that’s about it. But I am not, in any way, denigrating it as it was likeable and entertaining, I remember that much!
STRICTLY BUSINESS by CARRIE ELKS is a fairly straightforward office romance, vaguely enemies to lovers. I whipped through it pretty quickly but am not motivated to investigate the rest of the series.
What this is telling me, I think, is that I need to concentrate more on reading favorite authors/tropes/settings and less on trying out freebies and cheap deals. To that end, I am part way through STORM ECHO by NALINI SINGH. I have been waiting for it to come out in paperback here in the UK and my patience was rewarded. I do love the Psy-Changeling world, having discovered (and binge-read) it during lockdowns and am very happy to be immersed in it once again.
Happy reading all.
Yeah, I discovered the Psy-Changling novels during the pandemic (and when I was having my own non-covid health issues) – I am a big fan of the world-building.
I don’t usually post on WAYR, since I sadly have so little time to read these days But I always like to read about where everyone else is finding book joy/inspiration, and I usually add a few titles to my TBR. Two exciting developments this month: I started using the Serial Reader app which someone here had recommended previously. It breaks down books into smaller pieces and releases a new piece each day so you’re only committing to reading for 20 minutes or less. The books available are mostly classics/open domain and I was able to finally read Nellie Bly’s TEN DAYS IN THE MADHOUSE. Second, I discovered Deep Searching on the Libby app and it’s been fun to finally tag all the books my library system doesn’t own, but that are on my TBR, and I’ve already been notified of 2 books they’ve acquired since I tagged them. As for other reading, I’ve got young kids in the learn-to-read stage so I’ve mostly been reading early chapter books to/with them. Gotta say, their picks are mostly terrible. I picked RAMONA THE PEST and we’re about 3/4 of the way through. I’ve enjoyed getting to rediscover so many good stories from my youth, especially since I have only hazy memories of the plots! For adult reading, I’m still trying to finish AFTER THE FALL by Ben Rhodes, NF about the global rise in authoritarianism and where we go next. It’s fascinating, but difficult to stay engaged with when I only have a few minutes a day to read. And finally, I bit the bullet and began Courtney Milan’s Brothers Sinister series with
THE GOVERNESS AFFAIR. I’m not too far into it and I’m getting hints that’s it’s not going to be the breezy book I thought based on the blurb. But I know Milan and this series, especially, get high marks so I will keep going.
Happy reading!!
Over the past weeks ~
— Some of It Was Real by Nan Fischer; I finished it one day and quite enjoyed it. This book had mystery, romance, a dog, a cat, and a psychic-medium. What more could one want?!
— For my local book group, Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon; I quite enjoyed this novel based on the life of a woman who aided the French resistance. Be aware that it is set in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s and there are several scenes of extreme violence.
— reread The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir for the nth time and enjoyed it once again.
— read a fun book ~ Someone has to set a bad example: An Anne Taintor Collection by Anne Taintor. It’s a collection of retro images with captions that had me laughing.
— quite enjoyed Roommate (Vino and Veritas) by Sarina Bowen; this is a male/male contemporary romance.
— Unbury the Bones (Ember Bones Book 1) by Coyote JM Edwards was a quick enjoyable paranormal story featuring a vampire and a werewolf who solve a mystery. This happens to be free for US Kindle readers.
— a science fiction work that I enjoyed ~ Scavenger Alliance (Scavenger Exodus Book 1) by Janet Edwards is set on earth in a few hundred years. This is the first of a prequel duo to the Earth Girl series by the same author.
— a collection of science fiction stories, Earth Prime (The Earth Girl Aftermath Stories Book 1) by Janet Edwards which I enjoyed. These are set after the Earth Girl trilogy and would make little sense without first reading those books.
Four books for mood & circumstance. All are great so far.
Fiction ebook: Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings (Thank you, bitches!)
Nonfiction ebook: In Defense of Witches by Mona Chollet
Fiction Audiobook: Madness of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie
Nonfiction Audiobook: How to Read Nature by Tristan Gooley.
My sister-in-law and I agreed that we would read Psy-Changeling through #10 and then take a break to read other things, so I am resisting the urge to start #11.
Excellent:
KISS OF SNOW by Nalini Singh: Book #10 in the aforementioned series, this is the one I have been waiting for since Book #1. The hero – a wolf shifter and alpha of his pack – believes he has lost his shot to find his mate. The heroine, a Psy can’t stay away from him (and he can’t stay away from her either). The tension was incredible. The development of the relationship – physical, emotional, and intellectual – exquisite. I had high hopes and this blew past them. A note: this is an age gap romance – the heroine is 19 and the hero in his mid-thirties – if that is a no-go for you, then steer clear.
Very Good:
TOO HOT TO HANDLE by Tessa Bailey: First in the Romancing the Clarksons series, which revolves around 4 siblings who are not close taking a road trip across America after their mother dies. I tend to love Tessa Bailey, her writing and her heros and this was no exception, but it also wasn’t my favorite of hers. But I did order the next 3 books in the series. The heroine of this one is a down on her luck chef and the hero a bar owner and man with a reputation in his small town (which he is trying to shake).
PLAY OF PASSION by Nalini Singh: Psy Changeling #9, I liked both the changling hero and changeling heroine, but there didn’t feel like quite enough reason why the two just couldn’t be together at the start of the book so the plot felt a little weak. But as always, the world building and secondary characters were great.
Good:
BONDS OF JUSTICE: Psy-Changeling #8, while the heroine was intriguing and an interesting character, the hero was kind of meh – a fine entry in the series, but it was more of interest to advance some of the over arching plot lines in the series.
A GIRL LIKE HER by Talia Hibbert: A small-town British romance between a Black heroine with Autism Spectrum Disorder and a former military, welder hero. The hero was super sweet and the sexy times hot and even watching them navigate their new relationship was sweet, but there were evil secondary characters and lots of pettiness and grossness towards the heroine and I wanted to love the book, but just didn’t. I hear such great things about this author that I may try another book of hers in the future.
Meh:
None
The Bad:
None
Here goes:
1. THE BRIDE WORE WHITE by Amanda Quick.
Time is move on from Burning Cove, Quick! Earlier installments are better.
2. IN THIS MOMENT by Gabrielle Meyer
Time travel in 3 centuries with multiple love interests . A little too heavy on the faith based asides—but I made peace with it.
3. PINEAPPLE STREET by Jenny Jackson
I loved this story of a close knit family in present day Brooklyn.
4. THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAIRIES by Heather Fawcett
I am not a fantasy reader, but this author built a world with characters I loved—I can’t wait for the next book. I am all in.
I don’t usually read celebrity romance, or rock romances, but I loved Lily Chu’s The Comeback so much (even with first-person present tense narration). I finished my library copy this morning and immediately ordered a copy from my local indie for my keeper shelf. I had recently read Julia Lee’s Biting the Hand, a memoir about growing up in America as the child of parents who immigrated from Korea, and parts of the fictional story echoed Lee’s experiences.
I hope when I go to pick it up on Tuesday, the bookstore will also have my preordered copy of Martha Wells’ The Witch King. I have time off from work this week and plans for reading!
:::stumbles in to the sounds of Stevie Nicks:::
Why Stevie?
BECAUSE I SAW HER CONCERT THURSDAY NIGHT THAT’S WHY.
Lives were changed, folks. Lives. Were. Changed.
Then I went to Universal Studios, then I came home yesterday. I plan to meld with the couch today. Ya girl is tired.
Anyhoo, I’ve been diving in the Netgalley pool a lot lately, and came out with Some Shall Break by Ellie Marney. I liked the portrayal of trauma, and I enjoy the teenage Hannibal Lecter-alike character and his extremely codependent twin sister. I did have a few moments where I was mentally referring to them as “Murder Lannisters” and then it occurred to me that a Murder Lannister is really just a Lannister. Then, I needed something a bit more happy, so I pulled out the copy of Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert that I think I bought 2 years ago. TBR gonna TBR. Great book. Hilarious, hot, sensitive portrayal of mental health difficulties, and two lead characters with noticeable growth throughout the narrative. Very enjoyed. Now I’m reading the John Scalzi (it comes out in August, I think), Starter Villain. It involves a youngish man (in his 30s at a guess) that inherits a supervillain business from his mysterious and now-dead uncle. It comes complete with a volcano lair, sentient cats, sentient dolphins, and a cadre of other supervillains that are considering assassinating him for fun and profit. It’s very funny so far (the sentient dolphins are angling for labor negotiations and always ready with a creative insult for the bourgeoisie). And I’m enjoying watching a character with no idea what’s going on, but a strong moral core and a sharp eye learn to negotiate some very tricky situations that, if he goes wrong, are likely to end up with him blown up. So until next time, if you get a chance to watch a musical legend prove to you why they’re a legend in real time, DO IT.
I love these WAYR posts and to everyone who contributes, thank you! I’ve found so many gems here. This past week I’ve been re-reading Leta Blake’s 90s COMING OF AGE series: PICTURES OF YOU, YOU ARE NOT ME, and the newly released ONLY YOU. I’m still processing my reactions to these books and to be honest, I’m trying to decide if I like them.
The first two books in the series came out in 2016/2017 and I recall being utterly captivated. It’s the story of Peter, a high school senior who’s transferred to a new school because he was bullied for being gay at a time when HIV and AIDS was still a real and present danger. He’s not out to his family and has few friends to speak of. He meets an Arab-American student named Adam and a feverish, secretive romance begins. The author is very up-front that this is a coming-of-age tale, not a romance, although when you take the series as a whole, all the romance beats are there.
Peter meets some interesting characters along the way: Adam’s privileged yet clueless friends, a drag queen who becomes his employer, and a circle of gay friends from the local gay club. One of them, Daniel, plays a small role in Book 1 but becomes a large part of Book 2, when Peter starts to realize how unhealthy his relationship with Adam is. The first time I read the story, I must have been blinded by angst and sex scenes, keeping them on my Kindle all these years when there was no hope for any conclusion. I still enjoyed the books this time around – kind of – but I think I’ve changed as a reader and some stories you can’t go back to.
I won’t say too much about Book 3, other than it was long and it lagged in places. I was also conscious of the author’s hand at times. “Oh there’s a plot device,” I thought in one chapter, and at other times the dialogue or characterization didn’t seem believable. In short, I wanted to like this ending more than I did. Maybe because the author seems so likeable to me. I swing by her Twitter feed every now and then and she’s so thoughtful and winsome, I wish I could know her in real life. But her books have been more misses than hits for me.
On a positive note: things I liked about the series. 1. Leta Blake obviously knows a lot about photography and cameras of the time period. As Peter develops as a character, so does his skill as a photographer. 2. Drag queens, in all their sequined glory! Especially in these times. Lord, rescue us from homophobes and transphobes, we pray. 3. Blake veered away from the big miscommunication I was dreading in Book 3. So many authors succumb to this that it’s notable when it’s absent.
@MariaF. I loved HIS QUIET AGENT and had no idea there were any sequel books out there…so Thank you! As for what I’ve been reading. Has anyone else read the Monstrous series by Lily Mane? It’s a m/m monster to human post apocalypse series that is pretty decent. Some more decent than others. Moth is my favorite so far and Seraph is probably the most emotional. Still…fun times. I finally got around to LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY BY By Bonnie Garmus. This is a debut novel that has been on my kindle for awhile and I decided to give it a go. It was NOT what I was expecting. Don’t let that cartoon cover fool you as it’s has real depth and unexpected angst. There is a lot to unpack and I was surprised that it took place in the 1960’s ish era. Loved it. I also discovered C.S. Poe and their MEMENTO MORI series with a neurodivergent hero with a mystery thrown on top. Excellent. Everything else was pretty forgettable.
JudyW’s comment – “Don’t let that cartoon cover fool you as it’s has real depth and unexpected angst.”
Yeah. That’s the reason I dislike the cartoon covers. They make me think there’s nothing of substance to the book. They devalue the hard work writers put in to create a story. And they certainly put me off buying.
I’ll try this again, and hopefully have better luck this week …
WAKE OF VULTURES by Lila Bowen – This was reviewed here in May of 2016 by Carrie S, and she said everything way better than I could! This is a monster Western set in an alternate US in probably the late 1800s, with skinwalkers, harpies, vampires, werewolves, and many other types of monsters/creatures. I was interested enough in the story and characters to borrow the next in the series, CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS, but then DNF’d it after probably 50% or so. I think it was more a me problem than a book problem, I was having feelings of dread about the upcoming conflict with the big bad. But I was also getting a little impatient with Rhett and his refusal to accept help from his friends and allies, and thinking he had to do everything himself. Part of it was feeling like he wanted to protect his friends/allies from danger, and part of it seemed to be stubbornness and inability/unwillingness to realize that admitting you don’t know something is not tantamount to admitting that you’re dumb. There are two more books in the series, but I probably won’t be reading them.
SWORDHEART – Comfort reread when I was having trouble connecting with anything else. I enjoyed this just as much the second time around! And I would love a book about Vale and their work for the Rat god, they are one of my favorite characters in this book. T Kingfisher, hook me up!
I know I’ve read more, but can’t remember right now. That’s probably a bad sign!
@JudyW. I really like Lily Mayne’s Monstrous Series. Wyn (Soul Eater) is my favorite and agree some are better than others but I’ve enjoyed all of them. The most recent one, Lor, was the least compelling to me because he was so passive and because he and his human weren’t really together for a lot of the book. It seems like she’s setting up a transition to set some stories in the monster world, which would be fun. I’ve been on an m/m kick lately and these characters are unique but still hot and angsty.
If you haven’t read Ariana Nash’s Silk & Steel series, you might like that. It’s darker, with Dragon shifters and elves.
I’m about half-done with Incognito by Lisabet Sarai. This is a very erotic tale of a woman who can’t accept her own sexuality, so she splits herself, with her day-personna one who can’t deal very well with men at all–and her night personna who pursues anonymous, hot encounters with strangers. Has all the trademark heat of Sarai’s other books, but even more so! Not to be read in public, lest you squirm or have dilated pupils. LOL.